Article transfer mechanism for flight conveyers



A ril 27, 195 A. A. KOTTMANN ARTICLE TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR FLIGHTCONVEYERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Oct. 6, 1950 m/w R M m B 0. umm R W *m mA A m h h April 27, 1 A. A. KOTTMANN ARTICLE TRANSFERMECHANISM FOR FLIGHT CONVEYERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Oct. 6,1950 INVENTOR ARTH U R A. KOTTMAN N ARTICLE TRANSFER MECHANISM FORFLIGHT CONVEYERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed 001;. 6

INVENTOR +2 6 ATTORNEYS ARTH UR A. KOTTMAN N I lllll H mm mm m w wm iT|Imm W mm m VQ o QQ 0 MN F O 0 Patented Apr. 27, 1954 UNITED STATE PATENTOFFICE ARTICLE TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR FLIGHT CONVEYERS Arthur A.Kottmann, Davenport, Iowa, assignor, by mesne assignments, to AmericanMachine & Foundry Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to mechanisms for transferring articles from oneendless flight conveyor to another in longitudinal alinement therewithand particularly to a shuttle mechanism suitable for transferring slicedloaves of bread from the bed of a continuously driven endless flightdischarge conveyor of a bread slicing machine to the bed of anintermittently driven endless flight feed conveyor of a bread wrappingmachine, this application being a division of my copending applicationSerial No. 188,686, filed October 6, 1950.

The transfer device of the present invention is disposed between thebeds of two flight con veyors that are arranged end to end, each of theconveyors having longitudinally spaced flights that are carried bylaterally spaced endless chains and that push the articles along asupporting bed. Between the ends of the two conveyor beds it isnecessary to provide a gap of sufficient width to permit the flights tomove over the ends of the adjacent beds.

The transfer device is in the form of a reciprocating shuttle plate thatmoves from a position bridging the space between the conveyor beds inwhich its forward end is beneath the rear end of the bed of the slicerdischarge conveyor where it is in position to receive a sliced loaf whenit is pushed off the rear end of the bed of the slicer dischargeconveyor, to a position closely overlying the bed of the wrapper feedconveyor and within the path of travel of the flights of said feedconveyor where the flights of the feed conveyor engage the sliced loafand move it off the shuttle plate.

The invention has for its object to provide a transfer device by meansof which articles such as sliced loaves of bread can be transferredwithout damage or disarrangement from the bed of one flight conveyor tothe bed of another flight conveyor longitudinally alined therewith.

Reference should be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation showing the article movingconveyors and the driving mechanism therefor;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side'elevation of the receiving end of thewrapping machine feed conveyor and the delivery end of the slicingmachine discharge conveyor, together with the article transfer mechanisminterposed between the two conveyors; v

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical section showing theshuttle plate in an intermediate position;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on the line indicatedat 44 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line indicated at55 in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary transverse vertical section through a portion ofthe wrapper feed conveyor.

In the accompanying drawings the invention is shown applied to the feedmechanism of a bread wrapping machine in which sliced loaves of breadare delivered one at a time from a continuously driven flight conveyorwhich may be the discharge conveyor of a bread slicing machine, to anintermittently driven flight conveyor which is the feed conveyor of abread wrapping machine. As shown in Fig. 1, the wrapping machine has aframe 5 which provides support for an article feed conveyor A whichreceives articles to be wrapped from a conveyor G and which delivers thearticles to the elevator B of the wrapping machine. A horizontal shaft 3journaled in the rear end portion of the frame i is the wrappingmechanism drive shaft and a shaft 4 parallel with the shaft 3 is theconveyor drive shaft, the shafts 3 and 4 being driven by a sprocketchain 5. A sprocket chain '5 drives a shaft 6 journaled in the frame Iadjacent its forward end and a sprocket chain It drives the conveyor G.

The feed conveyor A is provided with a transversely flat bed 25 overwhich the articles to be wrapped are pushed by flights 26 which arecarried by endless sprocket chains 27 that run over pairs of sprockets28 and 28 at the delivery and receiving ends of the bed 25. Pairs ofsprockets 28 and 2d are preferably mounted in fixed positions and thechains 27 are tensioned by means of adjustable sprockets 36 below thesprockets 29 at the forward end of the frame.

The conveyor A is driven intermittently and the chains 27 are moved adistance corresponding to the space between successive flights 25 oneach actuation, the driving mechanism being so adjusted that theconveyor stops with a flight 25 in substantially vertical position atthe discharge end of the conveyor, in which position he article beingpushed by the flight at the discharge end of the conveyor has beentransferred from the bed 25 to the elevator B. The flight 26 at thedischarge end of the conveyor remains stationary during the initialupward movement of the elevator so that it does not interfere with themovement of the article with the elevator.

The infeed conveyor A is intermittently driven from the shaft :3 througha Geneva type gearing which includes a drive wheel '44 fixed to theshaft i and having two driving pins in the form of rollers 45 which arediametrically opposite each other and at equal distances from the axisof the shaft 4. The rollers 45 engage in radial slots st in a Genevagear 41 to which is attached a spur gear 48 which meshes with a gear ison the shaft of the sprockets 28. The gear il is provided with fourradial slots is and is given a quarter turn upon each half revolution ofthe shaft 4. The gear 41 is provided with periphe "a1 recesses 50intermediate the slots it which are of arcuate contour to receivecylindrical locking segments carried by the drive wheel M to lock thegear Ill against turning movements dur" ing intervals between actuationsthereof by the pins 45.

The sprocket 32 on the shaft i is twice the diameter of the sprocket tion the shaft 3 so that the shaft 4 rotates at half the speed of theshaft 3. The shaft 3 rotates once during each of operation of themachine and the t makes a one-half revolution during cycle of operation.

The gears 48 and 49 are so proportioned that a movement is imparted tothe infeed conveyor A to move the flights a distance exactly equal tothe length of the space between them upon each actuation of theconveyor, and the infeed conveyor has one movement during each wrappingcycle to deliver an article to the elevator B each time that theelevator is lowered to a position in alinement with the conveyor.

As shown in Fig. 2, the flight carrying chains 21 are guided along theirupper run between upper and lower longitudinal bars to and if; that aredisposed parallel to the bed plate In order to insure proper feed ofarticles to the wrapping mechanism, the pusher flights 2% are in theform of relatively high central portions of transverse bars ll connectedto the chains and overlying the end portions of the bars ii are fiat topguide rails l2 which are mounted for adjustment laterally toward andaway from he central flights 2B.

The upper ends of the guide rails l2 are detachably secured to nuts 12%that are carried by a transverse screw shaft M. The lower ends of therails 12 are detachably secured to curved arms '55 that are attached tonuts it which are carried by a transverse screw shaft ill. The screwshafts i l and T1 are journaled in the sides of the machine frame andeach has a right and left-hand screw for simultaneously adjusting theguide rails toward and away from the center line of the conveyor.

The bed, 25 of the conveyor A is supported at intervals by Crossbars l9and may be provided with openings 80 through which loose material suchas crumbs may pass. The forward receiving end of the conveyor issubstantially horizon: tal and the horizontal forward portion of the bed25 terminates between the sprockets 2% where it is supported on blocksill on a cross shaft %2 upon which the sprockets 29 are mounted. Thetightening sprockets as are carried by arms 53 connected to movetogether and pivoted to the shaft 32. The arms 83 are secured inadjusted positions to the frame i by bolts 8A which extend througharcuate slots 85. The arms 83 carry guide shoes 88 that engage with theconveyor chains to hold them straight between the sprockets 29 and 39.

The conveyor G is of the endless flight pusher type and has a bed 88over which the sliced loaves are pushed by flights 88 extendingtransversely between endless sprocket chains 9%. At the end of theconveyor G the chains to run over sprockets 9i and the bed at extendsinto tl e space between the sprockets 94 substantially to the pointwhere the flights til begin their downward movement. The sliced loavesare transferred one at a time from the continuously moving conveyor G tothe intermittently dri l infeed conveyor A by means of a shuttle plated2 is mounted for horizontal movement a position in which its forwardend is sub. tially beneath the bed 88, to a position in w; it isentirely inside the path of travel of the fiights 26 and overlies thebed 25 of the conveyor A. The plate t2 has a short flange til at itsforward end which serves to prevent the plate from being pulled out fromunder the loaf or other article being transferred to the feed conveyor,and may be provided with spaced holes fill through which crumbs maydrop.

The shuttle plate $2 is somewhat wider than the forward end portion ofthe bed has longitudinal slots at at its side edges w; -ecei e bolts hi5which attach to e": at slide in horizontal guides 33 at the front andbacit o t attached to the shaft 82 and to the fi means of its bolt andslot connection to the bars the plate 82 may be adjusted on the I are toprovide the desired forward dwell position of the plate 92 and toprovide the desire-cl clearance between the plate 92 and 55; during thearticle transferring operation. The shuttle plate E2 is reciprocated intimed releti l to the operation of the conveyors A and by of actuatinglevers 8%) attached at their lower ends to a horizontal cross shaft itsjour naled in the machine frame and connected at their upper ends to theforward ends of the bars 9'! means of links ifii. One of the lovers hasa rearwardly projecting arm i132 carryirr a roller 883 that is receivedin the groove of operating cam its that is attached to the shaft ii. Thecam its is so formed that the shuttle plate 92 is moved forwardly to aposition immediately adjacent the delivery end of the bed 88 of theconveyor G during the dwell of the conveyor A and just before the leafor otl .1" article to be transferred reaches the end of the bed 89. Whenthe loaf is completely transferred from the bed 88 to the plate 92 theshuttle plate begins its rearward movement at a speed sufiicient to moveout of the path of the adjacent fiight St. The plate Q2 completes itstransfer movement before the conveyor A moves sufficien ly to bring aflight into engagement with the transferred loaf, and begins its returnmovement after the loaf has been pushed off the plate onto the bed 25.The shaft e makes two revo utions during one revolution of the shaft itso that the movement of the shuttle plate with respect to the movementof the iii 2 and the conveyor G is driven at a speed such t a themovement of its flights 89 is with respect to the movements of theshuttle plate, e flights 89 being advanced a distance co esponiiing totheir spacing during each reciprocation of the shuttle plate.

In the forward position of the shuttle the flange t3 underlies the bedplate 83 so that there is no gap between the bed and plate and de liveryof the article onto the shuttle plate ahead of the flange 93 is insured.The initial speed of movement of the shuttle plate is such that the 5forward edge thereof is moved out of the path of the adjacent flight 89before the flight 89 crosses the path of the shuttle plate so that therecan be no pinching of the article between the flight and shuttle plate.

It is to be understood that in accordance with the provisions of thepatent statutes, variations and modifications of the specific devicesherein shown and described may be made without departing from the spiritof the invention.

What I claim is:

1. An article feed mechanism comprising a first endless flight conveyorhaving a bed underlying its upper run over which articles are pushed, asecond endless flight conveyor alined with the first and having a bedunderlying its upper run over which articles are pushed toward the firstconveyor and spaced from the bed of said first conveyor, means fordriving said conveyors in timed relation to advance the flights of one adistance corresponding to their spacing while the flights of the otherare being advanced a distance corresponding to their spacing, a shuttleplate mounted to reciprocate from an article receiving position adjacentthe delivery end of the second conveyor in which its forward edgeunderlies the rear end of the bed of said second conveyor to a positionwithin the path of travel of the flights of the first conveyor in whichit overlies the bed of the first conveyor, said plate having anupstanding flange at its forward edge that underlies the bed of thesecond conveyor when said plate is in article receiving position andthat is engageable with an article thereon to retain the article on theplate during rearward movement of the plate, and means for reciprocatingsaid shuttle plate in timed relation to the movements of said conveyorsto receive articles engaged by the flights of the second conveyor and tomove the articles rearwardly away from and out of the path of successiveflights of said second conveyor and into the path of successive flightsof the first conveyor.

2. An article mechanism comprising a first endless flight conveyorhaving a. bed underlying its upper run over which articles are pushed, asecond endless flight conveyor alined with the first and having a bedunderlying its upper run over which articles are pushed toward the firstconveyor and spaced from the bed of said first r conveyor, means forintermittently driving the first conveyor with successive movementsadvancing the flights thereof a distance corresponding to their spacingand with a dwell between successive movements, means for driving thesecond conveyor continuously at a speed to advance its flights adistance corresponding to their spacing during one movement and dwell ofthe first conveyor, a shuttle plate mounted to reciprocate from anarticle receiving position adjacent the delivery end of the secondconveyor in which its forward edge underlies the rear end of the bed ofsaid second conveyor to i a position within the path of travel of theflights of the first conveyor in which it overlies the bed of the firstconveyor, said plate having an upstanding flange at its forward edgethat underlies the bed of the second conveyor when said plate is inarticle receiving position and that is engageable with an article on theplate to retain the article on the plate during rearward movement of theplate, and means for reciprocating said shuttle plate in timed relationto the movements of said conveyors to receive articles engaged by theflights of the second conveyor and to move the articles rearwardly awayfrom and out of the path of successive flights of said second conveyorand into the path of successive flights of the first conveyor.

3. An article feed mechanism comprising a first endless flight conveyorhaving a bed underlying its upper run over which articles are pushed, asecond endless flight conveyor alined with the first and having a bedunderlying its upper run over which articles are pushed toward the firstconveyor, means for driving said conveyors in timed relation to advancethe flights of one a distance corresponding to their spacing while theflights of the other are being advanced a distance corresponding totheir spacing, a shuttle plate'mounted to reciprocate from a positionadjacent the delivery end of the second conveyor in which its forwardedge underlies the rear end of the bed of said second conveyor to aposition within the path of travel of the flights of the first conveyorin which its rear end overlies the bed of the first conveyor, means forreciprocating said shuttle plate in timed relation to the movement ofsaid conveyors to move articles away from successive flights of thefirst conveyor and into the path of successive flights of the secondconveyor, and means for adjusting the stroke of said shuttle plate tovary the extent of its movement toward said second conveyor.

4. An article feed mechanism comprising a first endless flight conveyorhaving a bed underlying its upper run over which articles are pushed, asecond endless flight conveyor alined with the first and having a bedunderlying its upper run over which articles are pushed toward the firstconveyor, means for intermittently driving the first conveyor withsuccessive movements advancing the flights thereof a distancecorrespondingto their spacing and with a dwell between successivemovements, means for driving the second conveyor at a speed to advanceits flights a distance corresponding to their spacing during onemovement and dwell of the first conveyor,

a shuttle plate mounted to reciprocate from a position adjacent thedelivery end of the second conveyor in which its forward edge underliesthe rear end of the bed of said second conveyor to a position within thepath of travel of the flights of the first conveyor in which its rearend overlies the bed of the first conveyor, and means including a camcontinuously driven in timed relation to said conveyor driving means forreciprocating said shuttle, said cam being formed to start the rearwardmovement of said shuttle plate substantially simultaneously with themovement of the article engaging flight over the rearward end of the bedof said second conveyor and at a speed suflicient to keep said plate andthe article thereon clear of the said flight during its movementdownwardly past the rear end of said bed.

References Cited in the file of this patent Petskeyes Nov. 14, 1939

